Andes Mint Granola Cookie Bars

I have been craving Andes Mint Chip Cookies. They were one of my specialties before I went gluten free. I picked up a bag of the chips this last week, and I’ve been trying to find something to do with them ever since.

This is one of those things where I think to myself “These things are not that good for me…. look at that ingredient list!” but I just can’t make myself care. I was on the verge of caving and getting the stuff to bake cookies (since I’ve tried gluten-free mixes and it just wasn’t the same).
But as I was looking at recipes in multiple sites, trying to get a starting point for baking with coconut flour (see here to understand why) , I came across the recipe for Grain-Free Granola Bars on Joyful Abode.

It was perfect for getting the gears rolling in my head. I had 3 cups of roasted, salted almonds since I bought them on sale; I needed to use some coconut flakes before they went bad. Of course I had honey and coconut oil. Perfect.

So here you go. An 80/20, gluten free cookie bar. I hope this might help a few people when they have cravings hit, too.

The Ingredients

3 cups roasted, salted almonds

1 c coconut flakes (unsweetened)

2 cups Andes Mint Chip chunks

1/2 cup coconut oil

1/2 cup honey

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp freshly ground clove

The Hardware

2 9 inch by 13 inch cake pans

1 bowl

a food processor

1parchment paper

a whisk

a spatula

The Procedure

Place the almonds in the food processor and pulse. You want to get to the point where everything is a bunch of different sizes.

Pour the almonds into a bowl and add the mint chips and the coconut flakes.

Put the coconut oil, honey, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove in a sauce pan. Whisk together and cook over medium-high heat until the mix starts to have stacking bubbles.

Pour the honey mix over the almond mix and use the spatula to combine. It will be dry looking but very sticky.

Line one of the cake pans with the parchment paper.

Pour the mix over the parchment paper. Fold the edges of the parchment down.

Place the second cake pan over the first and press down all over. This pressure keeps the bars together, so be thorough!

Chill for a long while. If your house is warm, the fridge is a good bet.

Cut into pieces. You chose the size. I got about 16 out of mine, but you could have more or less.

There you have it. May your minty candy craving be satisfied! Make sure to keep them cool since the coconut oil melting will make this a very messy treat!